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The contract was a "sole source order." That means the IRS has determined that Equifax was the only company deemed capable of performing the contract, according to Politico. The IRS, which did not immediately respond for comment, said in the contract posting that "this is considered a critical service that cannot lapse."
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The Atlanta-based company said the intrusion — enabled by a website vulnerability — occurred from mid-May through July. The issue was discovered July 29, and the company spent recent weeks working with a cybersecurity consultant and authorities on an investigation, which is continuing.
Equifax said it launched a website for people to check whether their data were affected and to sign up for the company’s credit-monitoring services. But a form on the website purportedly offering to “check potential impact” instead just gives users a date on which they must return to Equifax’s website to enroll in credit monitoring.
The discrepancy drew quick scorn from consumers on social media. Equifax declined to comment on the issue. Several attempts to get through on a phone line that Equifax said was dedicated to consumer calls about the data breach resulted in a busy signal.
Besides Social Security numbers and birth dates, the accessed information “primarily” includes names, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers, according to the company.
The credit card numbers for 209,000 U.S. consumers were compromised, and dispute documents related to 182,000 U.S. consumers also were accessed. An unspecified number of people in Britain and Canada were affected.
Equifax has acknowledged or been linked to several previous data breaches, including much smaller incidents in 2013 and 2015.
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Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that three senior Equifax executives sold a combined $1.8 million worth of company shares in the four days following the discovery of the breach, before it was made public. None of the trades were pre-scheduled, the news agency noted, citing regulatory filings.
News of the breach sent Equifax shares sliding; the stock price fell more than 13%, or $18, to about $124 in trading after markets closed."
Something to think about when large organizations promise that your confidential data are "safe."
#Investing #BitchesRunningAway